Lynette Daley manslaughter trial: ‘I didn’t know a f***ing hug can kill you’

HER alleged attacker claimed “I didn’t know a f***ing hug can kill you”, but prosecutors say Lynette Daley was brutally raped before her death.

Lynette Daley died after a brutal sexual assault, prosecutors say.

WARNING: Graphic

LYNETTE Daley lay drunk, naked and bleeding to death in the back of a car after “a wild sex session” with two men on a remote NSW beach, a jury has heard.

She was then dragged into the ocean where Adrian Attwater, 42, tried to wash the blood from her body before calling triple-zero on January 27, 2011, prosecutor Philip Strickland SC told the NSW Supreme Court at Coffs Harbour.

Attwater, who has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and aggravated sexual assault, later said “I didn’t know a f***ing hug can kill you,” Mr Strickland said on Tuesday.

Ms Daley, 33, died from injuries sustained in the alleged sexual assault at Ten Mile Beach, the prosecutor has previously told the court.

Attwater’s friend and co-accused, Paul Maris, 47, has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the mother-of-seven and hindering the discovery of evidence.

Ms Daley’s dead body was dragged from the car and washed before her attackers called triple-0, the court heard.

Paul Maris allegedly took part in the sex act with Ms Daley. Picture: AAP

The trio had been drinking “a lot of alcohol” on the camping trip and engaged in a sex act on a mattress in the back of Maris’ troop carrier before Ms Daley’s death.

Maris allegedly burnt the bloodstained mattress and sheet before ambulance officers arrived, the crown said on Tuesday.

The crown said Attwater denied being aware of the mother-of-seven’s significant injuries when the pair went skinny dipping before dawn.

“No, she was all f***ing sweet,” Attwater allegedly told police. Attwater said he noticed a bit of blood on his hand after a “wild sex session” and “the smell was terrible so we were going into the ocean to wash,” Mr Strickland said.

But the crown alleges Ms Daley’s genital injuries must have been obvious to Attwater.

“When she goes into the ocean ... she doesn’t walk in there unassisted, she doesn’t frolic in there, she is dragged or carried,” Mr Strickland said. “At that stage she is either dead or dying.” Attwater claims Ms Daley had a seizure, went limp and stopped breathing after about five minutes in the ocean, Mr Strickland said.

“The crown says that’s a lie.” The trial continues.

Confronting photos shown in court showed injuries to Ms Daley that caused significant blood loss.

Adrian Attwater arrives at the Supreme Court in Coffs Harbour. Picture: AAP

Adrian Attwater told police at the time Ms Daley had been “off her face”. Picture: Glebe Coroners Court.

The assault “substantially or significantly contributed to her death,” Mr Strickland said.

Her autopsy also revealed a small amount of methylamphetamine and a blood alcohol concentration of 0.303 - meaning she was “grossly intoxicated”. The prosecutor said Attwater told police “she was blind, she was off her f***ing face last night”.

Attwater claimed Ms Daley had a fit or seizure in the ocean when she went for a swim while naked and he performed CPR after dragging her back to shore. When questioned about how the trio came to have group sex, Attwater said: “These things happen ... girls will be girls, boys will be boys.” Both men told police they thought it was consensual.

Mr Strickland said Maris told police: “Well she didn’t object when I jumped in the back, she’d moved over to give me oral.”

The trial is expected to run for six weeks.